Pool Therapy
by heavenbenttotakemyhand
Summary: Kensi's recovery has its ups and downs.
1. Chapter 1

"Pleeeeeeeese! Come on, open up! Deeks begged. Kensi was sitting up in the hospital bed, arms crossed and uncooperative.  
Choo Choo! Here comes the train!"

Then finally, "I'll bring you a whole bag of candy bars if you open up."

"Okay but it has to be the big bars. Snickers. I want full size Snickers bars. No, I want ten of those King Sized Snickers bars." Kensi declared.

"Fine," Deeks acquiesced.

"Why is it so important that I take all these pills?"

"Because," Deeks said, handing the capsules to Kensi, "my buddy Phil says that probiotics reduce inflammation and thereby improve the outcome of spinal cord injuries. You want the best shot at recovery, don't you?"

"What I want is Snickers bars. Don't they have a vending machine in this hospital?"

"I will bring you Snickers. And knickers. Although the knickers are optional," Deeks added, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Kensi answered by quickly ballooning up her covers and the edge of her hospital gown.  
Deeks caught a glimpse of something he liked and also something that was out of place.

"Is that a tablet? Where did you get a tablet? Did Nell bring that to you?"

Kensi snuck a quick look at the door and pulled out the iPad where it had been hidden. "It's for my rehab," she explained.

"Then why are you looking at the door like you're afraid someone's going to find it?"

"Well my rehab is self-directed," she explained.

"As in you shtole that tablet?"

"As in I can't help it if interns get distracted and leave their stuff in my room. Do you have a charger in your bag? The battery is down to 20 percent."

Deeks pursed his lips. He sighed before getting up and pulling his charger out of his messenger bag. "I need it back though. You lost most of our chargers at home and I think Callen has figured out that I am borrowing his at work."

"You do realize you can waltz into Ops and pick up any of a dozen chargers sitting right there practically right out in the open." Deeks looked at her disapprovingly. "Well never mind. I'll go on Amazon and order some for you."

"What's your friend Phil's last name?"

"Why do you want his last name?"

"I'm going to look up this research on probiotics."

"It's Phillip Popovich and his article is in the latest issue of the _Journal of Experimental Biology_."

"Okay, here it is, I've got it. Hmmm." Kensi scrolled through the article. "Okay, better load me up on the probiotics. Damn. The Snickers is probably not good for me. Just bring me one. Well, bring me one a day and I'll just take extra probiotics."

"Want to watch some TV for awhile? You look a little tired tonight."

"Tired? You think I look tired?"

Uh oh, thought Deeks, now I've unleashed the beast. But that's a good sign, right? he asked himself. She's getting ready to gear up to fight this thing.

"What I meant was that I'm tired. And I'd hoped you would join me in watching some TV. Although now that we've got the iPad we could log into our Netflix account and watch Game of Thrones. Or anything you want. Yeah, anything you want. Top Model is fine too."

"Deeks you're rambling." She was too busy on the tablet to notice how tired Deeks really was. He ran his fingers though his hair and sat back down on the couch they'd brought into the room for him. His back was much happier on it than it had been with the hard back chair he suffered in initially.

"Take a nap," Kensi suggested. "I'll wake you up when the doctor comes in."

"I don't need a nap," Deeks said crossly, even though when he closed his eyes the room started spinning. Maybe that last explosion had given him a slight concussion.  
Fortunately Kensi's medical team chose that moment to begin filing into the room. One, two, three, four, five, six people in white coats squeezed into the small room. Kensi adjusted her covers.

Kensi's doctor greeted them. "We've got some good news. In the next few days we are going to transfer you to a rehab hospital. We've got one of the best in the country right here in LA. "

"What I've decided is that I need to follow the treatment plan that the Olympic swimmer followed when she was paralyzed by an ATV accident." Kensi informed them. "I want to start pool therapy immediately. Also I've found a few wheelchairs that I want to try out so that I can go back to work as soon as possible. Do you think I can use a standing wheelchair right away? I see Permobil has a new model, the F5 VS, which is my first choice. I want it in Galactic Green, although I'd be willing to take Radiant Red if it meant I could get it sooner."

Deeks looked surprised. She had been so down in the dumps today. Maybe she was turning a corner here.

The doctor also looked surprised and said he'd have the hospital administrator start the paperwork for the transfer right away. The rehab hospital would then evaluate her needs and order the right wheelchair for her. Deeks and Kensi exchanged a glance, both thinking Hetty would get the best possible wheelchair for her.

After the examination and small talk the two suffered through twice a day, the medical team left. Kensi closed her eyes to rest, just for a few minutes.

Deeks quickly set up a reminder on his phone to bring in Kensi's personal tablet then laid down and closed his eyes too.

 _The sun was warm on the top of his head as he walked along the pool floor, helping Kensi paddle herself around for her fourth lap of ten._ _Or twenty._ _She was always trying to beat her own record, even in her physical therapy._ _The saltwater of Kensi's mom's pool was a nice break from the crowded chlorine pool at the rehab hospital._ _She was lying face down on the float and he was enjoying the view of her butt in the new leopard skin bikini he had gotten for her._ _His hand reached up to fondle it._

 __ _Suddenly Kensi started slipping off the float._ _It flew vertically out of the water._ _She flailed wildly as she tried to hang on to it, startling Deeks from his daydream._ _Deeks bounced away in the water as she accidentally kicked him._ _Just as quickly he bounced back towards her, holding her up in the water._ _Deeks led Kensi towards the edge of the pool; gradually their breathing resumed to normal._

 _Suddenly Kensi grinned and wrapped her legs around his hips._ _Deeks had no time to question her newfound strength as Kensi's lips found his own. Between kisses, Kensi told him that her therapists had helped her work extra hard the past few weeks as she anticipated her first weekend away from the rehab hospital._

 _"_ _Your mom is gone for the whole weekend," Deeks pointed out._ _  
"_ _And your mom has already stopped by four times with food," Kensi pointed out, "and I have a lot of new talents to demonstrate for you." Deeks' hands were busy, finally getting to enjoy the feel her body against his again._

 _"_ _And the neighbors' surveillance camera is focused right on this pool," Deeks answered.  
"Get your gun; we'll shoot it." _

_"_ _Did you want me to bring my gun to our only weekend alone in 3 months?"_

 _"_ _It seems as if you have brought just the right equipment for the mission," Kensi answered, glad her left hand was finally functional._ _  
_ _Deeks gasped and then sputtered as Kensi splashed water in his face._

He looked up to see Kensi looking at him apologetically, water cup in hand.  
"Sorry, I couldn't wake you." Kensi looked close to tears.

Deeks ran his hands through his damp hair and struggled to wake up.

"Think there's room in that bed for two?" He asked, stepping out of his shoes and slipping his shirt over his head.

"It would be pretty close quarters."

"I'm okay with close quarters," Deeks assured her, climbing into the head of the bed and positioning her between his legs. He dug beneath the covers for the iPad and held it so they both could see it.

"Why don't we watch the Rams game?" he suggested, "Maybe Sam and Callen will be on the Kiss Cam."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIA LA. I just dance with the characters.**

 _Kensi was sure she'd done everything right._ _One minute she was watching another skier fly down the mountain, and the next she was stuck in the wet concrete, barely able to move._ _She tried to control her breathing as she fought off panic. What had just happened?_

 _The boom stopped her in her tracks, where she had watched helplessly as the wave of snow tumbled down towards her._

 _"_ _Trust your training," a voice urged her. It was Sam's voice._

 _She took a deep breath and thought back to her Teton Gravity Research training._ _Of course she had watched their online videos ahead of time so she'd ace her in-person training session._

 _First she unhooked her ski poles, using one to loosen her right boot from the ski but fumbling and quickly running out of time for the left._ _The ground fell away from beneath her. Instinctively she put her arms in front of her face as she tumbled down the slope._ _When she finally stopped, she pushed her arms out to create an air pocket._ _She tried to move through the snow but had no idea of where she should go. And she was stuck._ _Her_ _proprioceptors failed her; she couldn't tell if she were sitting, standing, lying down or even twisted sideways underneath the heavy snow._

 _"_ _Spit," a voice instructed her. This time it was Callen._

 _Despite her dry mouth she was able to gather enough moisture to spit. It dribbled down her chin._ _Okay, now she knew what to do._ _She had to dig upwards._ _The ski on her left leg was making it impossible to move but she shimmied a bit on her right side and found her head was close to the surface._ _Using her right arm, she was able to dig enough to wiggle a little more, then dig a little more, until finally her head was above the surface._ _She took several deep breaths, grateful to finally be able to see the blue sky above her._ _As hard as she tried, she still couldn't loosen the wet concrete-like snow that trapped her left side._ _Her range of vision was limited and all she could see was snow, trees and the side of the mountain._ _No one from the group she came to heli-ski with was in sight._ _As soon as she freed herself she would search for them._

 _Soon it became clear that Kensi wasn't going to be able to free her left side._

 _"_ _Whistle," The voice was so close it sounded as if Nell was right there trapped in the snow with her.  
She nudged the snow with her elbow and gradually created a space for her arm to slip in and pull the whistle up to her lips._ _Despite the fact that it was unlikely that anyone who heard the whistle would know Morse code, she whistled, "D-E-E-K-S."_

 _When she finally saw a group of skiers approaching her from the side of the mountain she waved at them._ _She breathed a sigh of relief as they approached her._ _Her photographer was with them._ _She wondered if he'd caught enough of the action to make a video for her._ _She shivered as the cold started to seep into her bones._

"Kensi, wake up," Deeks said, rubbing her arm and leaning over her hospital bed.  
"Hey there sleepyhead," he said as she opened her eyes. "Having a good dream?"

"No, not really."  
"Well from here it looked like you were practicing your pole dancing," Deeks pantomimed Kensi's actions in her dream. "First you blew me a kiss," he told her as he pushed his hands away from his face and pursed his lips. "You even drooled a little down your chin, right there," he pointed out, handing her a tissue. "Then you put your arm up, wiggled your hips on that right side, then lifted your arm a little more, wiggled both hips, then put your arm up higher and arched your back and then reached down to your chest," Deeks demonstrated. "Then to finish off you were whistling and waving. And if that weren't strange enough, you were whistling my name in Morse code."

"I was dreaming I was trapped in an avalanche."

"Pole dancing is nothing to be ashamed of," Deeks teased her with a smile, "and I'm sure your insurance will pay for lessons, for, you know, physical therapy. Or I could give you private lessons." He offered as he leaned over to give her a kiss and then continued his pole dancing routine. Just as he pulled off his shirt and waved it over his head, Sam, Callen and Nell came in the room.

Nell held up a bottle of Maker's Mark. "Guess I didn't need to bring this to the party," she laughed. "Looks like you've already wet your whistle tonight."

"We're pole dancing," Deeks explained.

"And you are doing that because…" Callen asked.

"Because I dreamt I was in an avalanche," Kensi explained, "and when I was digging myself out Deeks decided that I looked like I was pole dancing in my sleep."

"Did you spit?" Called asked.  
Kensi hesitated, remembering Callen's voice in the dream instructing her to spit. She slowly nodded her head.

"When you're in a situation like that you just have to trust your training," Sam threw out.

"Pass the whiskey," Kensi said, reaching for the bottle.


End file.
